My Right Foot

My right foot and I have had a pretty good relationship. He takes me places I need to go and I make sure it stays out of places it doesn't need to go. My foot has been very useful. As a runner it is about the most used part of my body. Which is the reason why my right foot is breaking my heart.

You see, towards the end of the last Cross Country season, my foot started hurting. My coach and a fellow runner had suspicions that it was a stress fracture. I finished my season and took time off of it. I then ran on it through out track, at first it gave me problems and I would ice and rest it until finally it seemed to go away. So I continued to run on it. Well I finished track and took alittle bit of time off but stayed active as Cross Country requires far more endurance. So I basically got no rest between track and Cross Country for my foot to heal.

Now my foot is worse than it ever has been. I'm running faster and harder on it than ever before and it is taking its toll on my foot. At the City/County meet I ran and afterwards was writhing in pain as I suspect I re-fractured my stress fracture. I have two races left so I really want to finish the season as I have yet to break 20 minutes in a 5K. The problem is that I might break my foot in the process.

Most people do not understand my delima, they believe the decision is an easy one, stop running. But it isn't that simple. For me, running is fun. I get to run. Racing in a Cross Country meet is one of my favorite things to do. So for me to miss out on all the good times on the team and possibly miss meets is a big deal to me. My foot is causing me to miss one of the things I love the most. This is why its breaking my heart.